I recently finished Dungeon Meshi, Ousama Ranking, and lastly Frieren. I am looking for series around that vibe, preferably not Isekais (At least not the modern ones). Thanks in advance for checking this post!

I'm not sure about recommendations, but we have a !frieren@ani.social community

Thanks man! 👍

If you enjoyed Dungeon Meshi and Frieren, definitely watch Witch Hat Atelier.

The anime is still ongoing, or is over?

Season 1 just finished. Manga also ongoing.

So you want an adventure anime with chill travel vibes and maybe some action, but not focused on action.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist is the original GOAT of Adventure anime if you've not seen it already. Watch Brotherhood, not the original.
2. Spice and Wolf gives similar chill vibes following a merchant and wolf god companion. Watch the 2024 remake.

for slowburn action/drama might I second

• cowboy bebop
• samurai champloo

If you're fine with something a bit nasty (gore, rape), Goblin Slayer. The very first episode is particularly eeky, it feels like they tried to make it as shocking as possible, but it does stabilize from episode 2 and those nasty moments become occasional rather than main focus. Overall it's a decent fantasy adventure anime.

If you're okay with really old anime, there are tons of nice fantasy from 80s and 90s. For example, Record of Lodoss War for a serious one. Or, for an easygoing fantasy comedy with great style, The Slayers; there are many seasons, movies, OVAs, etc; I personally watched them all and don't regret it, just keep in mind it's way more silly and unserious than something like Dungeon Meshi, for example, even though it's also a comedy.

WHA is great, but the first season ends in such an awkward spot I feel bad recommending it to people when we still don't have a date for Season 2.

Watch Brotherhood, not the original.

Wrong - watch the original up until they get to Rush Valley (around ep26 or so IIRC) and then switch over to Brotherhood. Or just watch all of the original and then Brotherhood.

Brotherhood tries to rush the first half of the original into 3 episodes which ruins the pacing.

True, but its more complicated to recommend like that. And I found the pacing of the original to be too slow for my liking. I agree that Brotherhood rushes through those first stories too fast, and skips two arcs that matter for no reason, but the original was slow and boring, even if it told the stories properly.

I think FMA is better than Brotherhood for the first part. I believe you're supposed to switch at the episode titled "All Is One, One Is All" because it has the same title in both series. So you watch 27 episodes of FMA, and then start Brotherhood with episode 12 (just looking at the episode numbers, Brotherhood definitely speedran up to this episode)

It was pretty successful, wasn't it? And the manga has enough material? Is there any reason to think it won't be coming back within the next few years?

If you are okay with gore (that slowly ramps up over time) Golden Kamuy is a great balance version gory action and documentary about Hokkaido culture in the 1800s. Disclaimer: I only read the manga

If it's less important that the recommendation be the same type of show, but more of the same quality level, I can recommend Apothecary Diaries.

I mean, if you can enjoy the pacing of Frieren, you can enjoy the pacing of the original FMA.

I obviously don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it but the rush in Brotherhood robs some crucial plot points of any emotional impact and is lesser for it.

There's an old saying that every DM wants their D&D campaign to be Record of Lodoss War (serious, dramatic high fantasy), but it always turns out to be Slayers (selfish PCs causing chaos wherever they go, but saving the world when the chips are down).

I'm sure it'll come back, but I'm expecting it to take quite a while if the second season is to be at the same level of quality as the first.

Apothecary Diaries might be up your alley. Main character definitely has some Frieren vibes.

I agree, I wish we could have had enough episodes to finish the trial arc but alas.

Haha I hadn't heard of this but it's so true! Although personally I love to see a campaign go full Excel Saga ^.^

Fullmetal Alchemist

The Apothecary Diaries

Hunter x Hunter (2011)

Jujutsu Kaisen

Vinland Saga

Dandadan

One Piece

Mob Psycho

Bocchi the Rock

Spy x Family

Made in Abyss

I think Frieren does the slow pacing much better than the original FMA, but that's a fair take.

Record Of Lodoss War OVA (1990), 13 chapters

It's supposedly based on the writer's fantasy role playing campaign

Confusingly, there's a sequel TV series from 1998, but it's not as good.

If you're talking about the Tucker family that whole thing actually gets even less time in the original original FMA - that is to say, the manga. I think it's all over in 2 pages or something crazy like that.

Gotta put in the obligatory "The bears in the first season look atrocious. I know. Just ignore how awful they look and you're in for a wild ride."

Made in Abyss for that adventure feeling. Girls Last Tour for that chill journeying vibe.

For no particular reason I suspect you'll like Apocalypse Hotel, and if you want something with a strong adventure element Shangri-La Frontier is pretty good. Also not related to what you asked for at all but I can't leave you without recommending Orb: On the Movement of the Earth and Jaadugar: Witch in Mongolia.

Mfw I want to produce [LibreOffice] Calc Saga

There are plenty of recommendations already I can vouch for so instead of repeating them I'll mention Land of the Lustrous. Don't be fooled by the CGI, this is the anime that convinced me that CGI in anime often being bad is a budget/animation issue and it can look absolutely stunning when done well. It's a story about Phosphophyllite, or Phos as they are known to friends, a young and very fragile Gem who dreams of helping their friends in the war effort against the Lunarians and their journey of self-discovery. Sadly the anime does not wrap up the whole story so you would have to read the manga to see the end (the manga is finished!) but it's still a great watch, the animation and especially the colors add a lot to the story.

Edit: Fixed the pronouns, my dumb brain forgot all the Gems are non-binary.

Autistic?

Yes.

Apothecary diaries
Witch hat atelier
Original Full Metal Alchemist (and brotherhood because that’s the only one that exists on streaming now, apparently)

Out the wazoo

Didn't see Mushishi mentioned yet. One of my absolute favorites. Interesting stories and an intriguing universe. So good.

I so wish for a new season of Land of the Lustrous. It's so good and so pretty

For spice & wolf, the original is still great too

Pray for a miracle

It's more poetic with short independent stories, but a great anime indeed.

I personally never recommend Made in Abyss without a strong disclaimer. Don't mind the torture and gore, but the pedo stuff is just too much to bare. Apart from that it's a pure masterpiece (characters, story, art, soundtrack).

The original is going to remain unfinished though, while the remake plans to continue the story... at least for now.

Oh for sure, but it'd be a shame to not watch such a classic imo. It ends unfinished, but it doesn't leave with any cliffhangers or anything.

There's a few episodes with backstory about MC, but mainly independent stories yeah. Really like the folk-lore style storytelling

Brotherhood tries to rush the first half of the original into 3 episodes which ruins the pacing.

I was curious so I took a quick look and it's actually about 28 or 29 episodes.

https://myanimelist.net/anime/56009/Yuusha-kei_ni_Shosu__Choubatsu_Yuusha_9004-tai_Keimu_Kiroku

Sentenced to Be a Hero

It isn’t the most chill anime but it has a lot action and isn’t an isekai.

Watch Brotherhood, not the original.

Watch the 2024 remake.

I see someone woke up today and chose violence lol.

I kid, of course -- as a lover of both versions of FMA, I understand how the slight change in tone & story appeals to different people; and I've yet to see the Spice & Wolf remake, I've just only heard about the criticisms people had with the things it changed.

If you're wanting to be pedantic, it squeezes the first half of the original into 10 episodes; Brotherhood hits Rush Valley at episode 10 whereas they arrive in the original at episode 26 (almost exactly halfway of the original 51 episode run).

I'm talking more about (huge spoilers)

Just want to say that this is the first time I've ever voiced my opinion on Brotherhood without someone jumping on my neck about it, so thank you.